Feeling silly!

[bench72]

Hi Brenda,

A big welcome to ya! And don't ever feel silly about asking questions... we all have to start somewhere and some of us.. (me).. need the same things drilled over and over to learn...

So good growing to you and make sure you keep us up to date with how your orchids are doing and when they flower... well you make sure you share!

[Elfmaiden77]

Hello again and thanks so much for the kind welcome! Glad to know I am part of the family now I will surely keep everyone up to date on how my orchid is doing. So far it is doing pretty good. I did finally fertilize it, though I am not sure how much it got. I saw someone suggest placing the whole pot in the fertilizer but I wasn't sure how long so I just ran it through as if I was watering. Would the other method work better, if so how long should I put the bottom of pot in fert? I do plan on more of these beautiful plants after I'm sure I'm doing a good job on this one!

Brenda

[Piper]

I tend to get lazy with fertilizer, so I sprinkle Osmocote (a time-release fertilizer) in most of my pots. Some of the Phrags and Paphs HATE fert, so you have to be careful who gets what.

I supplement my fert with a little kelp extract and epsom salts, and let the pot sit in it for five minutes or so. I do this maybe once a month. Subsequent waterings are in the shower, (for non-blooming, non Paph plants) so that prevents buildup on the roots (I have a reverse osmosis shower head filter, which is a really easy way to give the plants the good water they love!)

By the way, Brenda, it's ok to feel silly, but around here you have to act silly first!

Julie